


Broken stones, Shattered hearts

by Cool_as_Koolaid



Category: Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Ending, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Bisexual Rapunzel (Disney), Cassunzel Week (Disney), Cassunzel Week 2020 (Disney), Eventual Fluff, F/F, Lesbian Cassandra (Disney: Tangled)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-13
Updated: 2020-09-30
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:14:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26445430
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cool_as_Koolaid/pseuds/Cool_as_Koolaid
Summary: heartache hurts, it feels like a sharp knife is pressing against your chest and all you can do is watch. But maybe things can change, love can heal even the hardest of stone hearts.(This is my first fanfic, please be nice ;-;) (takes place just after "Beginnings")
Relationships: Cassandra/Rapunzel (Disney: Tangled), Eugene Fitzherbert | Flynn Rider/Rapunzel
Comments: 5
Kudos: 37





	1. Black rocks and Broken souls

It all happened so fast,

It felt like time had stopped. The steady silence was deafening as Cassandra stood in front of her, moonstone in her hand. The air seemed thicker all of the sudden, like her windpipe shrunk down, choking her. Her heart pumped so painfully in her chest as she looked at who she thought was her friend. Cassandra tilted her chin up, making eye contact with Rapunzel.

“I tried to warn you, Rapunzel. You have to be careful who you trust.”

Those icy words repeated themselves in her head like a broken record, everything felt cold and spun around like the world was going to fast. Tears gushed out of her eyes, there was no way she would ever lose Cass, the mere thought was enough to kill her.

“Why…”

Cassandra broke eye contact from the crying blonde, clenched her fist and began to speak. She told her about the flashback, about how she was abandoned by mother Gothel and replaced by Rapunzel, how she would prove that she was stronger than what everyone said and how she was reclaiming her destiny.

“Please Cass, we can work this out!”

she reached her hand out towards Cassandra, but it was too late. Large black rocks erupted from the ground, pushing her away.

“Go away Rapunzel! I’m going to fulfil my destiny if it’s the last thing I do”

Rapunzel cried out after Cassandra as Eugene pulled her away.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It had been a week since the incident, Rapunzel sat in bed with her diary on her lap. A pile of pages had been ripped out, each of them containing the feelings that she couldn’t comprehend. Pictures of Cassandra with a wicked smile leaning over her small body, pictures of Rapunzel reaching her hand out with Cassandra pulling away, and a picture of a broken heart, impaled with a black rock. So many painful memories that even diaries weren’t enough to fix. Pascal sat on her shoulder, his usually green body now a dark blue as he shared her sorrow.

“it’s ok pascal, we’ll get Cass back. It’s like she said, she won’t be mad forever…”

The door creeped open and Eugene cautiously walked in – a tray of food in his hand.

“Hey blondie, get any sleep?”

Rapunzel merely shook her head, eyes still fixated on the pile of torn pages. Eugene made his way over to her bed and placed the tray next to her.

“Do you wanna talk about it now?”

He eyed her concerningly, trying his best not to hit a nerve. Rapunzel let out a deep sigh and faced him.

“I’m sorry Eugene, but please know I’m trying my best to come to terms with what happened.”

Eugene nodded sympathetically, a small - sad smile on his face.

“Well, eat up ok? And try to get some sleep.”

He walked out of the room, closing the door behind him – leaving Rapunzel in the dark confinement of her room. She leant over her nightstand and lit a candle, allowing its light to creep up the walls and reveal the diary once more. The blonde knew this wasn’t going to help her, but she couldn’t help it. Flipping through the colourful pages, she finally found the one drawing she was looking for. A beautifully painted scene like one from her fairy tale books, two elegant figures dancing gracefully in a golden ballroom. She traced her fingers over the page and closed her eyes, allowing herself to be lost in that memory.

-

-

-

_“Stop fidgeting Raps, you’ll be fine”_

_Cassandra said to the very nervous princess in front of her, she was wearing her lady-in-waiting uniform, her raven hair tucked neatly in the veil that she loathed so much. Rapunzel had her hair cut above her shoulders, its once golden colour now a chestnut brown. She wore a beautiful flowing gown, the golden trimming contrasted magnificently with its deep purple detailing, the rest of the gown was a radiant lilac that almost reached the floor._

_“I’m sorry Cass, I don’t think I can do this”_

_Cass reached her hand out and gently cupped Rapunzel’s cheek, forcing her to look her in the eyes._

___"it’s just a ball ok? It’ll be over before you know it, and I’m going to be with you every step of the way”_

_Rapunzel gave her a warm smile in return._

_“I don’t even know how to dance; you’d think I’d have taught myself over the years but here we are”_

_Rapunzel let out a dry chuckle in an attempt to lighten the mood. Her cheeks red from embarrassment. “_

_Well Raps, today’s your lucky day, you so happen to be talking to the top student of her dance class”_

_Cassandra said with a smug smile, her face quickly turned stern_

_“don’t ever tell Eugene that”_

_Cassandra led Rapunzel to the royal ballroom, an elegant high ceiling room with baroque artworks covering every inch, the Corona sun crest visible in most of the imagery. It was an artists’ dream. Cass stopped and turned to face Rapunzel - giving a low bow - and raised her hand_

_"May I have this dance Princess?”_

_Rapunzel smiled shyly and took her hand._

_“One, Two Three…”_

_Cass led, holding Rapunzel respectfully. Which was probably a good thing, as Rapunzel’s heart already felt like it was coming up her throat. She could feel Cass’s hand on her waist, the hemming of her dress tickled her feet as she followed her lead._

_“One, Two Three…”_

_No music was playing, but Rapunzel could almost hear a faint orchestra. Violins sweetly harmonising with the depth of the cellos. Slowly, she began to gain rhythm; just like the violins, she graciously followed after Cass, harmonising her every move._

_“See Raps? you’re doing great!”_

_Rapunzel grinned proudly at the raven-haired woman as she absorbed her praise._

_“You’re still nervous, aren’t you?”_

_Rapunzel looked down at her feet, too embarrassed to look her in the eye anymore_

_“Yeah… how could you tell?”_

_A mischievous grin crept up on Cass’s face “_

_Your hands are Really sweaty”_

_Rapunzel gasped as Cassandra laughed at her exasperated friend, she stopped laughing when she noticed the princesses face mirrored her previous mischievous expression. Rapunzel wiped her hands on Cass’s dress and laughed as she ran away, Cass hot in her pursuit. Both women almost in tears as they chased each other through the empty ballroom._

_-_

_-_

_-_

Rapunzel smiled as she re-memorised that moment, but that second of happiness soon faltered as she fell into tears. Her heart ached for that familiarity, that warmth, her sadistic comments that were all somehow so loving and hilarious.

Her heart ached for Cass.


	2. Lost Destiny

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rapunzel decides that she needs to face the facts, with the help from an ex-thief and a storyteller.

The memories stung, and so did the dreams that followed.

Sleep was necessary but it only let her mind wonder. But alas, Eugene was right. She needed to sleep; she couldn’t help Cass if she was barely holding onto consciousness. So she closed her eyes, letting herself fall into the void of slumber.

It wasn’t much sleep, but it was enough to regain some strength. Rapunzel sat herself up, if she wanted to save Cass then she needed a plan, and plans meant that she needed to be in a good mindset. With a deep breath, she took her diary, placing it in her drawers in order to forget the painful memories she was holding onto for the past week.

After cleaning herself up, placing her hair into her signature braid and eating some breakfast, she left the castle walls.

“Blondie, you’re looking swell!”

Eugene met her outside the gates, his arm extended for her to loop her own. He took her to a small café just on the outskirts of the city. It was covered in vines and its walls made from various stone bricks, it had a cottage-like feel and the whole place smelt like freshly baked pumpkin pie and tea. It was the couples go-to place for small lunch dates and gatherings.

“So sunshine, how are you?”

He asked with his usual peppy attitude, Rapunzel looked up, unsure if she was truly ready to talk about what happened. But never-the-less she stood her ground, giving him an equally as peppy smile as she readied herself for the rant session that was coming their way.

“Oh you know… trying to get over the fact that the one person I believed had my back just tried to kill us, so you know… just peachy”

It came out a little more sarcastic then what she intended, she flinched as she saw Eugene’s smile falter, he didn’t deserve that.

“the one person? Rapunzel, I have your back too ok? We’re in this together”

“yeah, I know, i'm sorry Eugene...”

Eugene took her hand and squeezed it gently.

“Cassandra’s gonna be fine, she always wanted to have some alone time anyway, it’ll give her time to reflect”

She smiled, but deep down she felt a hint of anger. She knew he cared for her, but he never even liked Cass, he never told her secrets in the middle of the night or held her hand when he could tell she was upset. He didn’t know how scared she was, but Rapunzel knew; she knew that Cass would be regretting every decision she made since the incident, how she believed that there was no turning back and that no one loved her anymore.

“Yeah…”

Her voice broke as she kept down the emotions that were slowly boiling up.

“I just want her back… I need her back”

Her lip quivered, unable to contain her inner pain.

The two embraced while Rapunzel cried into Eugene’s shoulder. He patted her back gently in an attempt to soothe the blonde, but it only made her cry harder.

“I just, I wish there was a way… to know what to do”

Rapunzel said through sobs

“we’ll find a way sunshine”

Eugene reassured her, but no matter how many times he said that; the pain wouldn’t go away.

“Hah… I wish Lord Demanitus was still around, he’d have some answers”

Rapunzel said with a slight chuckle, knowing that Eugene wouldn’t appreciate that comment.

“Ugh, no way, last time I think he gave me fleas, I have never been so _utterly_ mortified” 

He said whilst cringing with disgust, itching his skin at the memory. Rapunzel’s eyes lit up, she had an idea.

“Oh no blondie, we are not going back to that monkey”

Fear visual on his face as he watched the blondes thought process.

“Maybe not the monkey, but what if we found an oracle? Someone who knows destinies?”

Rapunzel exclaimed. Suddenly a low gravelly voice cut in, the depths of his voice running with pure wisdom and knowledge.

“An Oracle, you say?”

Xavier the blacksmith was sitting behind them, reading a book, and enjoying a cup of honey tea.

“I apologise for eavesdropping princess, but I couldn’t help myself”

Rapunzel got up from her seat and made her way over to the blacksmith, eager to hear what he had to say.

“Do you know of an Oracle Xavier?”

Xavier opened his book, flipping through the abundance of bookmarked pages, each page containing information for ancient relics and lost legends. He finally stopped on a page with many different images, unrecognisable scriptures written on both sides. Xavier pointed his finger at one image in particular, it was a picture of a crystal ball, one that looked like what Madame Canardist owned; except for the detailed engraved eyes on the base, two eyes to be precise, one looking upwards, and one downwards. Something about this image made Rapunzel feel like she was falling, like it was swallowing her whole.

“This, princess, is the legend of Mors Fatum. It is filled with such great sorrow and loss; Two star-crossed lovers forever trapped in the ties of destiny. They sacrificed everything, for everything, the knowledge of the whole known universe, the price? their own freedom, and love. Now they rest in their prison of consequences, bound together, but forever apart.”

He was right, of course. It was a heart wrenching story, one Rapunzel was moved by. She gave Xavier a sad look, which in turn Xavier smiled kindly at the woman.

“That was beautiful…”

Rapunzel said, still awestruck.

“do you know where we can find them? It’s… really important”

There was a knowing look in his eyes, one that Rapunzel couldn’t help but squirm under.

“I believe it lies in the protection of a great keeper, preserved from all those who wish to use it for ill intent,”

“you mean the Spire?”

Xavier nodded his head in affirmation.

“I must warn you princess, it is easy to be lost to destiny and forget one’s self in the process.”

Rapunzel nodded warily, letting those words manifest in her mind. She thought of how Cass turned her back all in the name of destiny, and the same worry she felt for the past week came rushing back.

She needed to save Cass, from herself, and she needed to be quick.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really enjoying writing this!! i'm so excited to see it progress


	3. Icarus and the Sun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eugene and Rapunzel begin their adventure to save Cass

Rapunzel finished packing supplies for the trip, some warm clothes and food was all they really needed. Unlike last time, travelling as far as the spire would only take two days at most, thanks to Varian’s new and improved hot air balloon. Rapunzel couldn’t help but feel excited, the thought that she could possibly find a way to get Cass back made her smile and her heart flutter involuntarily. The adrenaline from the new-found hope made her impatient, she paced outside Eugene’s room, eagerly waiting for him to emerge so they could finally leave. Two more minutes passed and she finally caved, bursting into his room to see what was keeping him so long.

“Eugene you said we would be leaving asap, what’s keeping you?”

She turned her head towards the man, his face seemingly stuck to the mirror, as he tried to cover whatever it was that he was doing.

“Don’t look at me blondie! I’m hideous”

Rapunzel lowered the mirror despite Eugene’s plead. A red spot was visible between his eyebrows. _So that’s what was keeping him…_

Eugene looked meek as he attempted to comb his hair in a way that would cover up the small spot. Rapunzel let out a quick laugh and shook her head. It seemed so insignificant, but the small imperfection seemed to ruin Eugene’s mood.

“I don’t know what I did wrong, I haven’t even changed my facial routine”

Eugene said with puppy eyes and a slight droop to his lip.

“you look fine Eugene; can we please go now?”

He looked at the blonde, she could barely stay still as she awaited his answer.

“Calm down now sunshine, the Spire isn’t going anywhere”

More intense staring from the princess’s end, eagerly wanting Eugene to finally give up stalling.

“… fine, but don’t blame me when I become too repulsive to look at”

Rapunzel’s eyes lit up, she grabbed Eugene by the arm and dragged him towards the castles exit. Eugene almost tripping on his own feet as the blonde speedily led him to her destination. 

After some last-minute check ups of the hot air balloon, Varian gave the thumbs up, signifying that the pair could finally begin their journey. The hot air balloon was bigger than the last one they were on, the basket looked much heavier, but was actually less dense than its previous model. The balloon itself was a crisp white, with the golden Corona crest embedded clearly on the front. Pascal cheerfully chirped from inside Rapunzel’s handbag, seeming just as eager to jump into the large contraption as she was.

“You set sunshine?”

Eugene asked while holding his hand out to pull Rapunzel inside. Rapunzel took it and was hoisted up into the basket. With one last wave to the young alchemist the two finally ascended into the sky. The air was fresh yet had a slight chill. It was a beautiful day, not so windy that it was cold, but enough that the heat from the fire burning above them wasn’t unbearable. Just peaceful.

“This is way better than last time!”

Rapunzel exclaimed, arms in the air as she felt the breeze rush past her face and through her hair.

“Of course it is blondie! last time, we were fighting that do-gooder-man-bun guy who was really bad at acting, and I mean _really_ bad.”

Rapunzel laughed at that comment, she hadn’t really thought about that incident for a while. Andrew and his attempt to infiltrate the ancient journal, and how he tried to seduce Cassandra into trusting him; But he was no match for her intelligence, her bravery and her strength. She had so easily turned his plan against him, all while still maintaining dignity and grace. Rapunzel remembered how amazing of an actor Cass had been, at the beginning she had even fooled Rapunzel into thinking she was head-over-heels in love with the mysterious man. She remembered the way Cass looked at him, the softness in her eyes and the vulnerability she seemingly showed. She remembered how it made her feel, she was so happy for Cass, why wouldn’t she be? She seemed to have found someone who made her feel special and appreciated her talents… but there was that feeling in her stomach when she looked at them, like a pit had formed inside her and made her feel uncomfortable and pained. Of course her instincts were right as he turned out to be a traitor of the kingdom. But now that pit had sprouted, and her need to protect Cass was stronger than ever, she was her best friend after all…

“Yeah, he sucked”

The little insult towards the traitor gave Rapunzel a little bit of personal satisfaction, even if it wasn’t a great one. She sat down in the basket and reached for her diary, her mother insisted that she brought a new one, so that she wouldn’t be stuck in another vicious cycle of mourning over old memories. It was a good way to pass the time, they were going to be in the air for a while so she might as well do something productive. It wasn’t a complicated drawing, just a picture of the soaring balloon with Eugene, Pascal and herself riding inside. It was simple and nice, the colours were bright and happy and that’s all she wanted.

Before she knew it, the sun was beginning to set, its golden rays kissed the heavens and gently traced the clouds with a deep bronze glow. The two ogled over the view, being so high up it almost felt like they were going to fly into the sun and be consumed by its radiance. Rapunzel wondered if Cass was watching the same sunset, and thinking about the warmth that the sun provided, and how its heat felt like a big warm hug. She wondered if Cass was thinking of her, wherever she was… the thought put a small, sad smile on the blonde’s face. _Soon Cass, soon I’ll give you the biggest hug._

**Author's Note:**

> Whoop! this is the first fanfic that i actually decided to post. Hope ya'll enjoy it :)


End file.
